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NASA and China may 'boldly go' together

NASA is getting closer to working with China in space. Despite the political and commercial issues that have prevented any previous US-China cooperation, the agency’s boss, Michael Griffin, confirmed on Tuesday that NASA would be exploring opportunities for cooperation.

“I think the US always benefits from discussions,” Griffin told the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space. “I do not see how it can hurt us.”

Griffin will visit China later in 2006, at the request of President Bush, to discuss how the two nations can cooperate in space. Last week, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the US and agreed with Bush that their countries should work together in space exploration.

And this week, representatives from the China National Space Administration are among those attending a NASA-led workshop in Washington DC. They are exploring the types of activities humans should attempt on the surface of the Moon.

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Foreign policy

NASA is aiming to send humans back to the Moon in four-person teams as early as 2018. With the help of ideas from this week’s workshop, NASA aims to have a strategy for lunar exploration by the end of 2006.

When US senator Bill Nelson asked Griffin on Tuesday whether he viewed China as a competitor or colleague, Griffin responded that he should defer to the State Department, which deals with US foreign policy.

But Griffin added&colon; “Twenty years ago, who would have imagined that one of our best partners on the space station today is Russia?” After being long-time Cold War foes, Russia and the US eventually worked together in the Russian space station Mir. Later, Russia and the US provided the earliest components of the International Space Station. Labs from other countries, including Japan and the European Space Agency, are scheduled to be added later.

Eye-catching

Cooperation between China and the US would have benefits beyond actual space operations, says Dean Cheng, senior Asia analyst for the CNA Corporation in Alexandria, Virginia, US. “From a branding perspective, space is a great product – it is eye-catching. Saying you’re cooperating in space has very few downsides from a public relations standpoint.”

Cheng thinks the two nations should start with a relatively small project, such as sharing data or a joint satellite mission. “Manned missions are very much at the end of a process, not at the beginning,” Cheng told New Scientist.

China became the third country to put a person into space in 2003. They are planning their third crewed flight for 2008 and have expressed their own aspirations for exploring the Moon.